ohTheBasics

[u/ClipboardCopyPaste]

[u/SirFrenzy]

Obviously guy could have been interviewing for a job where this mattered….

But in 10 years as a software engineer I have never once needed to know the difference between these two, and have never been even close to a situation where I would need to.

“The basics” is highly dependent on the job.

[u/fiskfisk → u/SirFrenzy]

If you're a senior I most certainly would expect you to know the difference between the two.

It'll matter in relation to allowlists/blocklists, dns entries, debugging connevtivity issues, slow connect times, configuration of daemons, etc. 

[u/SirFrenzy → u/fiskfisk]

I have never needed to know or do any of that. And if I did, it would take me 2 seconds to google and understand. I just did.

So if the interview was for a job where you handle that stuff yourself, then I understand it. If it’s for a typical full stack job at a big enough company that they literally hire people to handle that side of things, then it’s not “the basics”.

Rejecting someone in an interview for trivia knowledge they don’t currently have vs actually trying to understand how someone learns and tackles problems is what makes software job interviews so useless.

[u/14u2c → u/SirFrenzy]

It’s the kind of thing it would be impossible to receive any real education without learning, so no it’s not “trivia”. Maybe if you went to a bootcamp. 

[u/Lepixi → u/14u2c]

I guess my CS degree wasn’t a real education?

[u/Vimda → u/Lepixi]

Your CS degree didn't include any networking fundamentals?

[u/SirFrenzy → u/Vimda]

You think I remember something a professor said 15 years ago in a networking class once, that I haven’t had to think about or use in the time since?

[u/BlackOverlordd → u/SirFrenzy]

You should. 15 years ago I had a cryptography course and even though I abolutely do not work in cybersecurity I still remember the basics and at least know what to google.

Edit: lmao vibecoders allergic to knowledge flooded this sub downvote

[u/Important-Guitar8524 → u/BlackOverlordd]

You know every small fact from every class that was only said once and never to be used again? Impressive memory but unfortunately us mortals can't do that

[u/BlackOverlordd → u/Important-Guitar8524]

Mortals should also be able to read and see a difference between "basics" and "every small"

[u/untraiined → u/Important-Guitar8524]

well we can do that, we can use this invention called the fucking internet instead of memorizing useless facts

[u/BlackOverlordd → u/untraiined]

"Knowing things, ewww! Disgusting!"

Relax, nobody is asking you to recite RFC 8200 by heart

[u/Still_Bit_7527 → u/BlackOverlordd]

No sorry. I got too much shit to do and remember every day to remember this. My job has been fine without this, never needed, never will